Thursday November 4, 3:05 am Eastern Time
JDS Uniphase to buy Optical Coating for $2.8 bln
NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Canada's JDS Uniphase Corp. (NasdaqNM:JDSU - news) (Toronto:JDU.TO - news), a
maker of fiber optic communications products, said Thursday it would buy Optical Coating Laboratory Inc.
(NasdaqNM:OCLI - news) for $2.8 billion in stock.
Based in Santa Rosa, Calif., Optical Coating makes thin film coatings and components that control and enhance light for uses
in telecommunications, satellites, computer monitors, medical instruments and other areas.
JDS Uniphase and Optical Coating have since 1997 had a joint venture to make products that increase the capacity of telecommunications networks.
''We believe this merger will allow us to shorten our product development cycles and bring product more quickly to market,'' JDS Uniphase co-Chairman and
Chief Executive Kevin Kalkhoven said in a statement.
JDS Uniphase plans to exchange 0.928 common shares for each share of Optical Coating, and to close the deal in the first quarter of 2000.
Optical Coating shares closed at 119-1/4, up 3-1/16, in trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq stock market. JDS Uniphase shares rose C$30.05, to C$282.00,
in trading on the Toronto stock exchange, and rose 20-7/16, to 191-7/16, on the Nasdaq, where JDS shares are also traded.
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